Xherdan Shaqiri
Xherdan Shaqiri (born 10 October 1991) is a Swiss international footballer who plays as a winger for Liverpool, having signed from Stoke in 2018. Liverpool career After a lengthy previous campaign, Liverpool required more depth in attack, with no options on the wing to rotate with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. This resulted in both being very tired towards the end of the season, effecting their performances. Liverpool had previously been interested in Shaqiri under Brendan Rodgers in 2014, but had been shot down by Bayern Munich. After three years impressing at Stoke, despite the club’s relegation, Jurgen Klopp decided to renew the interest. On 13 July 2018, reports stated that Shaqiri was undergoing a medical after a deal had been agreed with Stoke. This deal was confirmed the same day, with a Shaqiri signing a five-year deal for a reported fee of £13,750,000. It was confirmed that Shaqiri would wear the number 23 shirt, recently vacated by Emre Can. On 28 July 2018, Shaqiri made his first appearance for the club, coming on as a half-time substitution in a 4-2 friendly win over Manchester United. Shaqiri made an instant impact, rounding off the scoring with a superb overhead kick, having already assisted Daniel Sturridge for the second goal. On 12 August 2018, Shaqiri made his competitive debut, coming on as a late substitute in a 4-0 win over West Ham. Shaqiri regularly featured on the bench during the opening weeks, but made impressive substitute outings against Leicester and PSG. Shaqiri started for the first time on 22 September, playing a massive part in two of the Reds’ goals in a 3-0 victory over Southampton. A week later, Shaqiri assisted a Daniel Sturridge wondergoal from the bench in a 1-1 draw away to Chelsea. On 20 October, Shaqiri picked up another assist, with a sublime throughball for Mohamed Salah’s opener in a 1-0 win over Huddersfield. Four days later, the Swiss winger picked up an assist for his third consecutive appearance, assisting Salah in a 4-0 win over Red Star Belgrade. On 27 October 2018, Shaqiri scored his first Liverpool goal, coming on as a substitute and showing some amazing footwork to evade the defenders before slotting home Liverpool's third in a 4-1 win over Cardiff. Two weeks later, Shaqiri sealed a 2-0 win over Fulham with a quality volley from an Andy Robertson cross. Shaqiri's improved form led to more first-team opportunities, and he became relied upon as a creative spark from the midfield, earning a start in the 1-0 Merseyside Derby win. On 5 December, Shaqiri rounded off a 3-1 win away to Burnley, finely finishing off a smooth counter attack in the dying seconds of the game. On 16 December 2018, Shaqiri had his biggest game in a Red shirt, coming on as a substitute while the game was level against Manchester United. Three minutes after coming on, Shaqiri met a loose ball in the penalty area with his weak foot, and a deflection carried it over De Gea to give Liverpool the lead. Then, less than ten minutes later the Swiss met a strike on the edge of the area, and another deflection took it into the far corner to give the Reds a 3-1 win. A week later, Shaqiri grabbed his sixth of the season, finishing into an empty net to score Liverpool’s third in a 4-0 win over Newcastle. After this however, starts became few and far between for Shaqiri, going over three months without a start after a 1-1 draw vs Leicester on 20 January. On 7 May 2019, Shaqiri made his first start since the Leicester draw, filling in for the injured Mohamed Salah in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. Liverpool found themselves 3-0 down to Barcelona after the first leg, and needed four unanswered goals to progress. After 54 minutes, the Reds had clawed two goals back through Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum. Shaqiri found himself on the left side of the pitch, and put an inch perfect cross onto the head of Wijnaldum, who scored his second goal, and the equaliser on aggregate. Liverpool eventually found a late winner, and progressed to the final with a 4-0 victory, Shaqiri playing 90 minutes. The Swissman failed to come off the substitutes bench during the Champions League final, but received a winner's medal as Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in Madrid to win their sixth European Cup. Shaqiri suffered a few injuries at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, restricting him to just four substitute appearances in the early months of the campaign. On 4 December 2019, he finally made his first start of the season, coming in for the Merseyside Derby at Anfield. Seventeen minutes in, Shaqiri scored Liverpool's second of the game, with a neat finish after being put in by Sadio Mane, with Liverpool going on to win 5-2. This was his first goal for the club in almost a year. Honours Liverpool *UEFA Champions League: 1 (2019) *FIFA Club World Cup: 1 (2019) *UEFA Super Cup: 1 (2019) Stats External links * Category:Current Players Category:Forwards